Wokou
by darkrisingphoenix
Summary: AU After growing up in a small port, all he'd wondered was what life was like on a pirate ship. Then he wished the thought had never even crossed his mind.


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis in any way shape or form.**

Oh look: A Prince of Tennis story written by me that's not Tezuka-centric. Can you believe it? It's actually Fuji-centric this time. And it's rated Teen too! Amazing! And for once the chapters are going to be over four-thousand words before I stop!

Wokou is the word for a Japanese pirate, even though this story really takes place in a part of the world that doesn't really exist for fear of being historically incorrect. Climate is similar to the Caribbean, with small village/ports along with a main port city. Time is sometime between about 1640 and 1680. No research was done on the time period, so this may be historically incorrect. If anyone spots something wrong with the history of it, please point it out and I will do my best to correct it.

Note: Chapter starts off with Fuji's thoughts and then goes to 3rd person. No honorifics or Japanese will be used. A couple of slightly mature themes are used, but nothing more than a fifteen year-old should really know. This chapter also contains a mildly gory story, so if you're squeamish, then skip it.

**Warning: Contains some Dream Pair and Pillar Pair, as well as Seigaku's Strongest Pair and Thrill Pair. May also contain traces of Golden Pair and Imperial Pair.**

---

_It's... boring here. Dull, repetitive, and far too uninteresting for my tastes._

_Day in, day out; it's all the same. Wake up, get dressed while shooing away servants who want to help, eat breakfast alone or with Yuuta and sometimes Sister, then study and escape with Yuuta to explore the marketplace and coves lining the beach. After we both want to go home—or the servants find us—and sneak back in through the tunnel under the wall that leads back into the garden. Afterwards, I bathe, eat dinner, and read or talk with Sister or Yuuta if he's still awake. I sleep at promptly nine, and the next day, it rewinds and restarts all over again. It's been that way since I was little, save for the changes in bedtimes._

_It truly is a monotonous life. The only excitement I get is that thrill of meticulously evading the servants looking for Yuuta and me in the marketplace; or when we find a cliff we've not yet sat and watched the sunset on; or when we come across a cove we've not yet scoured thoroughly for shells and sea glass._

_Nowadays, Yuuta's been staying in the libraries and reading instead of sneaking out with me to explore. It's just been me climbing up the ladder entwined with vines like the closest of lovers, and over the stone wall before jumping down into the lush grass underneath._

_Lately, there have been many stories circulating around the marketplace; of pirate ships going around to different sea ports and looting everything. I sometimes only hear that there are only thirty pirates on a ship; sometimes it gets to three hundred. How do they know? Did they actually sit back and count the pirates as they looted?_

_I often find myself wondering what it must be like living on a pirate ship. Sometimes I wonder what it must be like to be a pirate. Sometimes I close my eyes and let myself drift off into a daydream about a pirate raid. Sometimes it's about a huge pirate ship that carried over two-hundred members and leaves many casualties wherever it goes. At other times, the ship is smaller and carries fewer pirates; although the few pirates I catch glimpses of were far more skilled. Then I find Yuuta shaking me back into reality and after he's satisfied that I am not musing about something other than my book anymore, tells me that I had that creepy grin on my face again and was creeping him out._

_---_

_I convinced him to go out with me again, just once, and then after we were comfortably seated under a tree, I asked him what he thought of pirates. All he said was that they were cutthroats and dishonorable people that shouldn't be allowed to even be called human. After my next question, he shook his head and said he hoped it would never happen. After all, this was just a small port town; nothing of value to loot here. He then stood up and said he was going home, leaving me to ponder even more about pirates._

_I shook my head as soon as he was out of sight. All my question asked was what he thought might happen during a pirate raid._

_What happened a month later was something that changed my life forever. I've decided to keep a log of what happens from now on, and maybe, just maybe, people will begin to realize that pirates really aren't as bad as the stories depict them as._

_I'm not saying they're not bad though; just not _as_ bad as everyone says they are._

---

"Syuusuke, Yuuta tells me that you're interested in piracy." Yumiko looked towards her younger brother. "What would you like to know?" Fuji looked up from his book and towards his sister. "I've read almost every book in the library, Syuusuke. Just say the word, and I'll tell you everything you need to know. Anything at all, Syuusuke."

"It's alright, Sister. I'm good on the subject of pirates," He reassured her, placing the silk ribbon attached to the binding of the book in between the two pages he was on. "At least on the pirates that everyone says are evil, vile creatures that only care about gold and indulgences. Are pirates all really like that?"

Yumiko gave a short laugh and opened the drawer on the small shelf between their chairs. She pulled out a small book, pages worn and yellowed from inside a box inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Handing it to her brother, she smiled and closed the drawer. "Here's a book I found tucked between the pages of a history book. It seems to be the diary of a pirate. I think his name is 'Nandirock' or something close to it. It seems he was a famous pirate about twenty years ago, but disappeared six years ago off the face of the planet. The entries end rather abruptly, about six years ago, I think. It seems he met a girl and got married, but it doesn't go further than the night before his wedding. Read it; it's quite interesting. And Syuusuke, keep that on you at all times. Don't let anyone get at it or even see it." Yumiko suddenly turned her face to a window where a small breeze entered in. "Do you hear that, or is it just me?"

There was shouting coming from outside; loud and shrill. There was a strange yellow-orange glow that illuminated the village, and Fuji stood up, realizing what the glow was from. Tucking the diary into the small pocket of his loose sleep trousers, he froze and listened to the screams of the villagers. "Sister, what's going on?" When there was no reply, he turned to look at his sister who had been at the other window. Yumiko was standing by the window, staring out at the village with empty eyes. With a soft cry, he grabbed her by the arms and shook her. "Sister? Yumiko? _Yumiko_!" She blinked before turning her eyes to him.

"Syuusuke, it's pirates. Pirates are raiding." Fuji's eyes snapped open and bored into Yumiko's grey eyes. "All I saw was the ship and the roofs of the buildings, but the Jolly Roger was enough. Syuusuke, I know what you're thinking, but you can't go out there. You could be killed."

"Don't worry about me when the rest of the villagers can't defend themselves. What's one life for so many others?" Fuji's eyes softened just a bit before he straightened and plucked an antique rapier off the display above the mantle. "If I don't make it back, tell Yuuta that I've embarked on a long journey and won't be back." Yumiko wordlessly nodded and Fuji left the reading room and ran down the marble stairs before pausing at the oak doors. Taking a deep breath, he pushed one open and ran out of the mansion and the iron gates and into the chaos in the village.

There was suddenly someone next to him, and he used the rapier to block the oncoming attack. "Heh, pretty good, aren't you?" Fuji stared at his opponent. The attacker was taller than him by a good few inches and had an almost mischievous look in his eyes. His hair was short and black and he looked extremely strong. "But you can never be as good as a pirate!" He leaned forward more, and Fuji felt his old rapier bend backwards against the force of the obviously thicker and stronger sword of the pirate. "Especially with such skinny arms!" With a small spin, Fuji found himself lifted off the ground and against the pirate's chest.

"It seems that there is no way for me to win against you, eh? But I won't let you harm any more of the villagers!" Fuji squirmed against the muscled arm holding him up.

"What can a little boy like you do? Silk nightclothes, fair skin, soft hands, a body flexible enough to be a woman; from the looks of it, you've never had to work a day in your life. You live in this mansion?" When Fuji gave a slight nod, the man laughed. "No wonder you're so weak. Just how old're you anyway? Thirteen, fourteen?" Fuji kicked futilely before deigning his pride to answer the question.

"Sixteen," He gasped, the man's other hand having slipped to his throat and was squeezing it slightly; the pressure harder with every passing moment. "Seventeen in February."

"Eh? You're older than I am! By a single year, but that's really beside the point. Heh, what a sense of pride." The man seemed to grin again, but Fuji was blacking out and couldn't tell anymore. He heard the intake of breath as the man was about to begin speaking again, but a more cheerful voice interrupted.

"Hoi, Momo! What're you doing?" Fuji barely caught a glimpse of red hair illuminated by the fires. "I thought you said you didn't hurt pretty girls."

The reply was defensive. "It's a boy! I swear it is! Maybe. Probably, I guess..." Fuji almost gave a wry grin at being called a _pretty_ girl, but felt his consciousness slipping away before he could.

---

'_Where am I? What happened last night? Right, right; the pirate raid. And that one guy was choking me and—wait. Pirate raid?!_' Fuji's eyes snapped open and found himself staring at a ceiling that was covered with plaster. His other senses suddenly came back to him and he moved his hand to feel the thin bedspread under his body and then grasped at his leg and felt the silk bedclothes. He flexed his hand gently, letting his fingers curl up into a fist before releasing the newly formed sphere slowly. Determining that there was nothing wrong with his hand, Fuji turned his head in an attempt to figure out his surrounding, but a sharp pain shot up his spine and rested at the base of his neck. For Fuji, it was almost like resting his head and neck on a bed of hornets. His knees instinctively bent and his legs flew upwards, before his body turned him onto his side, his arms holding his legs in a vice-like grip. The assumed fetal-position proved to be extensively painful as well, so Fuji willed his figure back into position. At this moment, if anything, he'd rather waltz with Yuuta at one of his father's parties at the feet of some girl that he liked than deal with this pain.

Suddenly moving his arm up to almost reach for the ceiling, he noticed that his shirt was no longer a powder blue but instead a crimson whose color appeared to be a mix of red wine and blood. Lifting his leg, he noticed the pants were the same shade. Slowly letting his leg back down on the bed, he reached up to his chest and felt the span of silk melting into bare skin and laced with silk ribbon to hold the front of the shirt together. If someone changed his clothes, then... Fuji suddenly felt his skin heat up in a blush. When his fingers met his neck, he winced and momentarily distracted himself from his previous thoughts. The pirate had left quite a large bruise on his fair skin.

There was suddenly a bustling nearby, though it sounded muffled, and then the door flew open. "Hoi hoi! You're finally awake, pretty little rich boy!" The voice was the same as the one reprimanding the man that choked him last night. "Did you sleep well? Momo left a really nasty bruise on your neck last night!" A face suddenly appeared in front of Fuji, their noses almost touching. "Nya, you really do look like a girl. Looks like Captain had good taste; the shirt looks good on you!" There was suddenly a finger at his chest, running back and forth from just under the bruise to where the shirt's laces began. "Oi, are you going to talk?"

"Ngh," Fuji finally managed, wanting the finger on his chest to just _go away_. The hand paused for the briefest moment, before running down the length of his upper torso. Fuji's azure eyes flew open, and his mouth opened to make his unvoiced question of who this person was known. Air escaped form his mouth, his mind depriving him of the ability to speak. The hand was sliding dangerously lower with each sweep, the redhead's mouth drawing substantially closer to his own.

"Your eyes are dangerous," the new pirate whispered, his breath ghosting the surface of Fuji's skin. "They almost look like the eyes of a pirate."

"Eiji!" A commanding voice reverberated throughout the room, impossibly echoing off the wooden planks. His voice laid a blanket of thickness, engulfing the small room, and making it harder to breathe. "Don't harass the prisoner. What more, why are you touching him?" Fuji wondered for split second whether or not this would be the captain of the ship, but the gentleness in that reprimanding voice eliminated that idea. Besides, why would the captain of a pirate ship care to grace a prisoner with his presence?

"Oishi," the pirate named Eiji huffed, sounding annoyed. The hand pulled away, though Eiji held eye contact for a moment longer before turning to look at this Oishi. "You know I just like to feel this fabric, and the part by the laces is always made softest. Besides, he's prettier than half the girls that we've had on our ship in the past two years, so why not get a better look at him while we have the chance?"

Fuji could hear a patient sigh issuing from Oishi's mouth. "You always had a soft spot for pretty girls." The air thinned slightly, so the assumption that Oishi was smiling was only natural. Fuji could not see the man who had just entered the room, but he could see Eiji. His offender's eyes danced challengingly in the direction of what was possibly the position of Oishi, though his smile reflected happiness. "Now come on, Captain just called all hands to the deck."

"Yessir, First Mate Oishi!" Eiji replied happily, saluting towards his ship's second-in-command. Fuji could swear that the voice was tinged with the slightest bit of mockery and irritation at the statement. Turning back towards Fuji, the redhead lowered his mouth next to Fuji's ear and whispered, "You'll get your kiss later."

"Eiji!"

Eiji cringed at the sudden sharpness in Oishi's voice before springing away towards the door. His complaints of "It's not like I'm going to turn into that idiot Ibu Shinji just by saying a few more words" just barely reached Fuji's ears before the door swung shut. Fuji let out a breath he barely knew he had been holding. _Kiss_? Not on the pirate's life. Trying to move his neck again, Fuji recoiled at the pain and pursed his lips slightly. Maybe the pirate _would_ get his kiss if Fuji's neck didn't heal in the next day at most.

Maybe he'd throw in a tango with Yuuta in front of the girl if he could just avoid the red-haired pirate until he could move his neck and get up.

---

"Sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three. Everyone's here, Captain." Oishi stepped off to the side as a regal figure took his place.

"Everyone, I called you here to report that the raid last night went well, and we acquired a prisoner in the process. I would like to remind you that only the cook, navigator, first mate, second mate, Kaidoh, Echizen, and I are allowed into the prisoner's cabin until further notice. That is all; get back to your duties." The captain turned and walked through the door leading to his study. Then the murmuring started and soon most of the crew was whispering to each other.

"Prisoner?"

"Wonder who it could be."

"Did anyone see him?"

"I, with my two years of sailing experience predict that—"

Oishi shook his head disapprovingly before following Eiji into the hallway that led back to Fuji's room.

---

"I'm back!" Eiji sang as he sauntered into the room Fuji currently lay in. He bounced over to the bed and placed his face above Fuji's. "Did'ya miss me?" Fuji frowned at the pirate before opening his mouth to speak. Nothing but a puff of air escaped his mouth, and Eiji laughed at Fuji's futile attempts to talk. "I think Momo did some pretty bad damage to your throat, eh? But no worries, no worries; Inui predicted that you'd be up and throwing insults with the rest of the crew in a week or so." Fuji shot him a look and Eiji corrected himself. "Right, right. A well-behaved, pretty little rich boy like you doesn't swear. Well, I have news for you: We're pirates; some of the most foul-mouthed people you'll ever meet. We insult each other and swear at almost everything that moves, 'kay?"

Fuji swallowed before opening his mouth again. Struggling, he managed a raspy "I think I know that you're pirates" that was barely heard before swallowing again. Eiji laughed and disappeared from view for a second before returning with a giant smile on his face.

"You must be thirsty, so I got you water. Maybe this'll loosen up those vocal cords of yours." A wooden mug suddenly obscured Fuji's sight, and his mouth was parted a tiny bit by calloused, nimble fingers and the cup tilted slightly. Cool water splashed onto his lips and dribbled down the sides of his face. "You know, you're really lucky. The captain even gave you his quarters to lie in until you get better. When I ended up with this crew, I was given these tiny, dingy little quarters that I shared with Oishi. Then after a while, a bunch of our shipmates got captured, and we got a better ship and a smarter crew." The pirate grinned again before placing the mug down. "But you know, most of our prisoners end up in the storage room, tied up and all that. Even all the pretty girls, and anyone was allowed to visit them. This is the first time the captain's done this for anyone."

"Eiji, are you harassing the prisoner again? Oishi keeps telling me you are." Eiji pouted before turning to the direction the door. "At least make yourself useful and help me feed him."

"Taka! I was _not_ harassing him. I was just telling him that he was getting special treatment." Eiji sulked for a moment longer before jumping up to help his fellow pirate. "Is there something so wrong with—is that all for him?" Fuji wanted to just turn his head to see what Eiji was fussing about, but knew that there would be the sharp pain again. "Are you kidding? Most prisoners get as much as the cabin boy eats for breakfast for all three meals, not the amount Atobe's first mate has for _lunch_."

"Captain's orders, Eiji. He told me that he wanted the prisoner to be as comfortable was possible." One of the pirates moved, and as the face came into view, it had been this Taka pirate. "Are you sure he's awake?"

"He should be. He doesn't open his eyes much though, but he can somehow still see through the tiny little slit he leaves open." Eiji's face came into view. "But you should see his eyes, Taka! They're this brilliant color of blue, and," Lowering his voice, Eiji paused. "His eyes almost look like a pirate's." His voice returned to its usual level. "But he only opened them fully once when I was in here."

"Is that so?" Taka looked down at Fuji and a small roll of bread came into view, hovering over Fuji's nose. "You must be starving, right? Why don't you eat a little and see if some food'll get your get your body moving and your neck healing faster." To Fuji, the bread smelled like heaven, but the images of the raid returned to his mind. This pirate was the one who had been swinging his sword around ferociously and he vaguely remembered this same pirate coming out of a small building with a few bolts of silk on his shoulder. As the bread was lightly pushed to his lips, Fuji kept his mouth closed. He'd dealt with this before; people trying to poison him and Yuuta so his father would have no heirs for his trading business. The pirates could be doing the same.

"Come on, little rich boy! It's not poisoned or anything." Eiji bent down to Fuji's ear and placed his lips so close, they were almost touching the shell of his ear. "If you don't eat, I'll have to kiss you." He whispered. Fuji's eyes snapped open and his mouth parted slightly in surprise. A small piece of bread made its way past his lips and teeth and met his tongue. For a moment, Fuji froze as the bread's crust seemed to melt in his mouth; a sign that the bread was freshly made with high-quality ingredients.

"There we go," Fuji tried to swallow, but his throat rejected the food and he let out a small cough that made his throat feel as if it were on fire. "Or not. Eiji, get me that soup over there, would you?"

---

The two pirates soon left, and Fuji was left in peace. Luckily, Eiji had not tried to kiss him while the other pirate was there, and had left without complaint after Oishi—rather his voice, as he did not come into Fuji's narrow line of vision—showed up and dragged Eiji away after baiting him with sounded like promises of all the beer he could drink at the next port they came across. Time passed, and since Fuji could not see the clock that ticked and tocked from the small stand next to him—he wasn't sure when he had woken up—when the pirates finally left him alone, and when this little _boy_ had barged into his cabin.

Well, it appeared to be a boy, from the childish face and large eyes. The eyes, Fuji noted, were his most prominent feature, as they were a peculiar shade of light brown that was flecked with gold. It might have also been the other way around, because there was so much gold in the boy's eyes. The annoyed look in the new pirate's eyes showed that he did _not_ want to be in here. "Feh, you're not as pretty as Eiji and Momo keep saying you are." The scorn in his voice was evident as he spoke; the golden eyes darkening a hint. "I don't see why Captain's giving you special treatment, even if you are a spoiled little rich boy." A book was suddenly waved in his face, and Fuji's eyes just managed to catch the title before it was pulled away. "It's ten, and apparently I have to read a bedtime story to you. Although I don't see why, seeing as how Momo says you're sixteen, not six."

Fuji suppressed a chuckle at they boy's evident reluctance to read a story out loud.

"But I have to, according to the Pirate Code's first rule: All orders from the Captain must be followed without question. This stupid story's called _The Three Little Pigs_, and there's this jolly little picture of the three pigs on the cover." The sarcasm was evident in the pirate's voice as he continued reading. "Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. The first little pig hated to work. The second little pig hated to work. The third little pig didn't mind work, and did all his work before playing; unlike his two brothers. One day, the three little pigs were told by Mama Pig to go out and build their own houses. The first little pig wanted to hurry up and finish building his house, so he built his house out of straw. The second little pig wanted to hurry up and finish building his house, so he built it out of sticks. The third little pig took his time and built a house out of bricks; stronger than the other two houses.

"Then one day a wolf came and saw the first little pig's house. So he knocked on the door and said, 'Little pig, little pig, let me in.' The pig replied, 'Not on the hair of my chinny chin chin. Then the wolf said, 'Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and blow your house in.' And so the wolf took a step back and—What the hell?" The pirate stopped reading and glared at the book. "Forget this." There was a loud thunk in the corner of the room as the pirate tossed the book away carelessly. "So the wolf blew the house in, and grabbed the little pig. The pig screamed in terror as the wolf sunk his teeth into the pig's shoulder. He ripped away a chunk of flesh and chewed hungrily as the pig screamed again in pain. The wolf growled and snapped the pig's neck. Blood spattered the remains of the straw house as the wolf continued to gnaw at the pig's dead carcass. Finally, the wolf finished, his maw dripping with blood. He turned to look at the second little pig's house, which was just a few meters away. The second little pig had seen the wolf eat his younger brother, and ran out the door. The wolf grinned before chasing the pig and catching up easily. He then grabbed the shrieking pig and licked his lips. The pig screeched as the wolf dug his teeth into his stomach, tearing away at the flesh. The pig of course, died, and the wolf continued to devour the pig's corpse in large bites—what, afraid of a little gore?" Fuji's hands now rested on his ears, eyes clenched shut; willing the boy to quickly finish his story. "You know, you can't be a pirate if you can't stand a little gory story."

"Echizen, I don't think it's wise to tell such a... gruesome version of _The Three Little Pigs_," A new voice that Fuji hadn't heard before reached his ears and Fuji relaxed slightly, letting his eyes return to their normal position. A new face appeared above Fuji's face, though the only thing he noticed was that this pirate was _very_ tall and wore red-framed glinting glasses that prevented people from seeing his eyes. "I'm here to give him his medicine."

"You call that thing _medicine_?" Echizen stepped aside and allowed the tall pirate to stand directly next to Fuji's face. "It looks more like poison to me." Fuji's breath hitched at the mention of poison.

The pirate noticed this and gave a small smile. "It is not poison, I assure you that. It is one hundred percent natural ingredients that we, ah... received from a port not long ago." Fuji felt like snorting. Received? More like looted and stole. "Drink up, won't you? It'll take away some of the pain when you move your neck, and soothe your throat so you can actually eat solid foods." The pirate took out a spoon and dipped it into the mug. The spoon came to Fuji's lips and slowly tipped to let the medicine drip into Fuji's mouth. Fuji's eyes widened a millimeter as he swallowed. The lingering taste of mint and—was that brussel sprouts?—lingered in his mouth after the remedy was swallowed. Echizen gagged as the other pirate refilled the spoon and lowered it to Fuji's mouth again. Fuji swallowed the medicine without complaint. "Echizen, finish feeding him the medicine for me. There is an 83 percent chance that within the next twenty four hours, another port city will be close enough to reach in three days time if this wind keeps up."

"Oi, Inui! Don't stick me with this job!" Echizen protested as the tall pirate turned and walked out of Fuji's line of view. There was the sound of a door slamming as Echizen scowled at the mug in his hands and then at Fuji. "Why am I the one taking care of you?"

---

Two nights passed, and Fuji sat up in bed, breathing hard and sweating slightly. His mind wandered back to the previous nightmare and he lifted a hand to his forehead. A hand tapped at his arm and Fuji looked toward the pirate that had been taking care of him for the past two days. "You're sitting up; doesn't your back hurt?" Fuji felt at his neck and pressed down on his collarbone. There was no twinge of pain, and Fuji pulled his hand away without shaking. Looking at Echizen, he shook his head in disbelief. A slow grin spread on Echizen's face. "Finally!"

"You look glad." Fuji smiled and turned to look at the clock. The hands of the clock pointed to eight and four respectively, and Fuji stretched out his arms. "I know I'm glad; I can finally get up and move around." Echizen turned to Fuji and then glanced at the clock before sitting back down in his chair and smirking at Fuji.

"You know, now that you're sitting up, I can kind of see why Eiji kept asking me whether you were a boy or a girl." Fuji gazed at Echizen for a moment questioningly.

"Why would he ask you? It's not as if you were the one that changed my clothes." Echizen's smirk spread, and Fuji felt his skin heat up. "So it was you?" Echizen leaned back and stared at Fuji with an almost predatory gaze. His eyes swept up and down Fuji's figure and sneered.

"You really do look like a girl, you know that? A flat-chested one at that, but a rather pretty girl. I wonder if that's why the captain's giving you special treatment." Echizen stood up and placed a knee onto the bed. Fuji instinctively leaned back, but the wall prevented him from going back much further. "Nowhere to run, little rich boy." This time, the gaze was definitely the same as a cat's when he spotted prey. Echizen leaned forward even more, and Fuji pushed himself against the wall so he was flat against it. The gold eyes were full of mischief and something Fuji couldn't identify. He looked towards the end of the bed and quickly moved toward it, but Echizen's hand, now planted on the wall in front of Fuji's face; effectively blocked the way. "It's fun playing with you, you know that?" Echizen's face drew closer and Fuji's eyes snapped open in fear.

"I'm not a toy." Fuji whispered, Echizen's breath now ghosting over his nose and lips.

"Maybe, but not everything one plays with is a toy." A hand came to rest on the strip of bare skin down Fuji's torso, and Echizen's lips were almost touching Fuji's nose now. Fuji looked for anything that might help him escape from the grasp of the pirate that was two and a half years younger than him. "Feh, as if." Echizen smirked before leaning back slightly, and the door swung open.

"Uh..." Taka looked from the smirking Echizen to the blushing but relieved Fuji. "Am I interrupting something?" Eiji's head popped up from behind Taka and the pink lips quirked into a pout.

"Nya! Kiddo's stealing the prisoner's first kiss! Not fair, kiddo! I was supposed to be the one to do that!"

---

Fuji—now dressed in a pair of cotton burgundy trousers, a loose white shirt that was laced up the same way as the crimson sleep shirt but tied tighter so the band of pale skin from the bottom of his shirt to mid-chest was no longer revealed, and a pair of soft leather boots—was pulled out of the cabin and into the long hallway leading on deck by Eiji.

As they walked, Eiji chattered away about everything from girls to the weather to cats, and Fuji couldn't help but smile. "And so then there was this giant wave headed toward us, and everyone was running around, trying to get inside, but the captain ordered everyone to stay on deck, and since the first rule in the Pirate's Code is to always obey the captain's orders, everyone had to stay on deck, and then the wave came crashing down, and we all got soaked, but the wave was surprisingly light, so no one was injured. Except I caught a nasty cold, nya!" Eiji took a deep breath before continuing. "Captain's really strict, but he's a good captain, and he's real smart. But he's always got this mean look on his face that never changes, and once Momo and I tried surprising him, but he just looked at us and told us to swab the deck, make the beds in every room, and do everyone's laundry. I was really sore the next day. Hoi! You know, he looks really noble and stuff, like some Duke or something, but then why would he be a pirate? But I guess the position of captain suits him, since he knows what to do when something good or bad happen—by the way, what's your name?" Fuji nearly crashed into the bouncy pirate who had suddenly jumped in front of him. "I bet it's a really dignified name, seeing as how you're royalty and all that."

"Royalty? But I'm not—" Eiji interrupted Fuji with a shake of his head.

"Don't be stupid! If you weren't royalty, then why would you live in such a big mansion? After all, it's the biggest house I've ever seen."

"But I really—"

"It may even be the biggest building I've ever seen. But then, I can't really remember... I've been on and off ships since I was really little, so I've been to a lot of ports, and there were some pretty big houses there. I've also been with Oishi since I was really little; we met on this ship I stowed away on when I was seven, I think. He still has the same haircut as then, but I think it wasn't slicked back when we first met. And either way, it looked about the same. Nya, everything's kind of fuzzy, but at least I still kind of remember." Eiji continued his ramble and scratched his head. "Some people on this ship can't even remember what it was like when they were little, so I guess I'm lucky. I keep asking Tezuka where he came from before we met on that old ship a while ago, but he keeps telling me to go wash dishes or something. I think he—"

Fuji cut him off. "For the last time, I'm not royalty. My father is head of a company that supplies boats to merchants and magistrate of the port, so that's why I live in a mansion. And if you've ever been to the capital port, my home is _tiny_ compared to some of those buildings."

"I've never been to Kanto though! Inui keeps saying that if we go, even if it's just for a visit; as soon as they see the Jolly Roger or the name of the ship, it's capture for us and we get hung." Eiji shook his head. "You'd think they'd be a little more lenient if we're just visiting, but no, they won't. I think Oishi came from Kanto, but I'm not sure. Hoi, you never told me your name!"

"Fuji. Fuji Syuusuke. I believe yours is—"

"Kikumaru Eiji, but everyone except the Captain and Inui calls me Eiji! I'm Second Mate, right after Oishi!"

"It's strange..." Fuji mused, placing a finger on his chin. "I always thought pirates were savage people who did nothing but sail around looting and indulging using the money they got from looting. At least, that's what I heard and read in all the stories. I never thought someone like you could be a pirate; you're so bouncy and cheerful all the time."

"I've never met a pirate like what you described." Eiji thought for a moment before his face darkened. "Except maybe that damn Akutsu. Poor little Dan to get swept up in admiration for his fighting skills. You see, Akutsu's this horrible guy that could be the devil's twin. Maybe nicer when it comes to Dan, but otherwise he's mean to everyone, including his captain. One time, the Yamabuki ship attacked us, and kiddo and Akutsu got is a swordfight. Kiddo won of course, but that Akutsu fought dirty and went at kiddo after he lost. Nya, kiddo managed to block the attack, but Akutsu managed to get a scratch on his face. Kiddo sure gets injured a lo—Oh right, I need to get you to the captain."

"Captain?" Fuji raised his eyebrows as Eiji began pulling him in a different direction. "For what?"

"Something or another. He's really ambiguous at times about why he does things, but we do them anyway." Eiji shrugged and let go of Fuji's arm. "Just a little further ahead is his study where all the maps and a lot of compasses are. There are a bunch of them; big ones, little ones, engraved ones, and one that doesn't point north and changes directions a whole lot. I always wonder where it points, but I'm never really sure. But the strangest thing happened once: a year ago, this ship came and appeared on the horizon. I'd never seen it before, but I think Captain actually looked surprised when he saw it, and then as the ship came closer, I saw him looking at the compass that doesn't point north. Nya, his expression was almost wistful, I think. Then the ship caught up to us and this plank lowered across the rails of both ships, and all these other pirates walked across it to our deck. We didn't fight or anything, but their captain and our captain talked in our captain's study, and then the pirates all left and the other ship did too. I think the ship's name was 'Hyoita' or something, but I can't really remember. Oh, here's Captain's study." Eiji paused in front of a door and knocked gently.

"Come back later unless it's important." The voice seemed to pass through the wood with only a slight muffle, deep and rich; almost majestic-sounding.

"But you told me to bring the prisoner as soon as he could stand and talk. I think that's pretty important." There was a slight shuffling inside and a click of the door being unlocked. Slowly, Echizen's face appeared from behind the door and he shot a livid look at the two of them. "Hoi! Kiddo, what's with the scary face?" When he got no answer, Eiji continued on, pushing past Echizen and pulling Fuji through the door. "Captain, I brought him like you asked! His neck healed really fast, thanks to Inui's medicine and Echizen's tender care."

"What are you talking about?" Echizen snapped from his position at the door.

"Nya, someone's awfully snappy today." Eiji whispered, more to Fuji than either of the other two.

"Shut up, Eiji." Echizen glowered, fixing his stare at a nearby clock. As the two pirates squabbled, Fuji took the incentive to look around the room. Old clocks lined the walls, some not even ticking anymore. Compasses were placed in gaps on the bookshelves, and along the other shelves decorating the walls. Old maps hung from the wall and a few were rolled up and jammed into an urn in the corner. The bookshelves were full of leather-bound books and yellowing papers, and other books were stacked against the wall tidily. Yes, Fuji thought, this was a rather cozy place to be all day. It reminded him of his father's study.

"Your name?" A voice interrupted Fuji's thoughts. Fuji looked at the man sitting behind the desk. He was dressed in a rust-colored overcoat with a white shirt and a brown vest underneath. A gold brooch engraved with a 'T' was pinned to the lapel of his coat with a pocket watch's chain attached to it and hanging down before disappearing into the breast pocket of the vest. Fuji's eyes wandered up to the captain's face and he studied the sharp features and then the wire-rimmed glasses before watching his lips move again. "I asked for your name."

"Me giving you my name would make me inclined to inquire yours." Fuji smiled at the captain's stony expression.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu."

"Fuji Syuusuke. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances; I'd say it's not."

---

Figured that was an okay place to end the chapter; not the best place, not the worst place, but a fine enough place for now. Beginnings of the taunting Fuji we all know and love!

Like I said, some barely mature themes, two swear words, a gory children's story, a bunch of pairings, and no honorifics. All forewarned in the above author's note.

Again, I'm not too sure about the entire time period and pirate terminology, but I'll do some research on the pirate things at least and hope it'll be better next chapter.

Also, please don't expect updates for this very often, since these chapters take a long time to type; and I also am going to try and get at least five more chapters done before updating again.

Please review!


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